Monthly Archives: November 2007

Until John Hinderaker and Paul Mirengoff can weigh in, I offer my assessment of the CNN Youtube debate’s highs and lows tonight. Best performance: Mitt Romney. Runner up: Mike Huckabee (“Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office,” offset by Huckabee’s dancing around on tuition tax breaks for illegals). Lowest blow: Rudy Giuliani, on Romney’s “sanctuary mansion.” Mayor Giuliani is apparently a proponent of mutual assured destruction. I »

The Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel has been plagued for several days by riots and the violence has spread to other areas as well. The problem stems from an accident at an intersection in which a motorcycle (which authorities say was speeding) collided with a police car killing the two people on the smaller vehicle, both of whom were teenagers of North African descent. Based on the pretext that this was »

I won’t be able to watch the CNN-YouTube Republican Presidential debate tonight; I’ll be working. But if you’re planning on watching, join in our group live-blog of the event by going here. It’s a fun way to see what others think of the debate and add your own comments. »

In today’s Harvard Crimson Julia Bertelsmann addresses the claim that critics of Israel fear to speak their mind on campus. A Harvard undergraduate with relevant experience, Bertelsmann points out that exactly the opposite is true. I touched on one of the Harvard professors whose charges give rise to Bertelsmann’s excellent column in “A Faustian bargain.” »

About that Washington Times story on terrorists targeting an Army base in Arizona: FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson has declared that the threat wasn’t credible. The Washington Times story was based on a leaked FBI advisory and “a Department of Homeland Security document” with respect to which the Times itself raised credibility issues that appear to have been warranted. »

President Bush’s July 2007 announcement of the regional peace conference that convened in Annapolis yesterday provided that attendance was to to be limited to representatives of nations that support a two-state solution, reject violence, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and commit to all previous agreements between the parties. Adhering to this limitation, however, would have resulted in a small party. The limitation was therefore abandoned in a big way. The »

In “When the Mitt doesn’t fit” I wrote about the following paragraph of the Christian Science Monitor column by Mansoor Ijaz: I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that “jihadism” is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. He answered, “ »

Josh Gerstein continues his exploration of the radical connections in Hillary Clinton’s past in “Hillary Clinton’s left hook.” Late in the story my old boss — Eighth Circuit Judge Myron Bright of Fargo, North Dakota — makes a surprising cameo appearance. Gerstein fairly concludes that that the story “illustrates the complicated relationship between Mrs. Clinton and radical activists who were often frustrated by the failure of Mrs. Clinton and her »

As the Annapolis conference convenes today, Andrew McCarthy salutes it perfectly in “Farce.” Rick Richman takes off from McCarthy’s outstanding column in “Selling the same promise three times.” Barry Rubin explores one of the conference’s many anomalies in “Drilling a hole in a lifeboat.” JOHN adds: This morning, President Bush says “the time is right for Mideast peace.” That would suggest that something has changed, but it’s hard to say »

In a column for today’s Christian Science Monitor, Mansoor Ijaz quotes Governor Romney as follows: I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that “jihadism” is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. He answered, “ »